Athas, Pinder Lead ISU in Waco

WACO, Texas ? The Iowa State women's golf team concluded the first of three rounds at the Big 12 Championship Monday at the Ridgewood Country Club. The Cyclones fired a first-round score of 322 and stand in 12th place, two strokes behind Texas. 14th-ranked Texas A&M was off to quick start in defending its 2006 conference title, bolstered by Christa Spedding and last year's medalist Ashley Knoll, in second and third, respectively. 11th-ranked Oklahoma State, host 36th-ranked Baylor and Colorado trail the Aggies by eight strokes while Kansas' Amanda Costner was the only player to register a score under par, scoring a 71.

Karly Pinder and Christi Athas were ISU's top performers on the first day, shooting 6-over par and tying for 22nd with a first-round score of 78. The pair took different paths to their scores as Pinder earned three birdies and Athas registered 12 pars.

Pinder birdied her first hole and countered with another birdie on hole six before running into trouble on the last three holes of the front nine. The junior from Exeter, Ontario, was carrying momentum into postseason play having recorded her fourth top-10 finish of the season at the Indiana Invitational.

Athas was the catalyst of consistency, bouncing back from two initial bogeys to open up the first round with nine pars in her next 10 holes. She was on top of her long game, able to pull even on all four par-5 holes she attempted.

Jessica Shin earned a ninth-place finish at the 2006 Big 12 Championship in Lincoln, Neb., and is three shots behind Pinder and Athas. She fired a 9-over par first-round total of 81 to tie for 44th.

Freshman Pennapa Pulsawath, Iowa State's regular season scoring average leader, was unable to get on track early as she finished with an 85. Pulsawath double-bogeyed her first hole and ended with a triple bogey despite carding a birdie on hole nine. She finished at 13-over par and is sitting in 58th.

Tuesday's second round will begin at 9 a.m. For live updated scores of the second round, click here.

ISU Scores
T22 ? Karly Pinder ? 78
T22 ? Christi Athas ? 78
T44 ? Jessica Shin ? 81
58 ? Pennapa Pulsawath ? 85
60 ? Kendra Hanson ? 92

Team Scores

1 ? Texas A&M - 300
2 ? Oklahoma State - 308
      Baylor - 308
     Colorado -308
5 ? Kansas State - 309
6 ? Texas Tech - 310
7 ? Nebraska - 312
     Kansas - 312
9 ? Oklahoma ? 315
10 ? Missouri - 316
11 ? Texas - 320
12 ? Iowa State - 322

Players Mentioned

Christi Athas

Christi Athas

Kendra Hanson

Kendra Hanson

Karly Pinder

Karly Pinder

Pennapa Pulsawath

Jessica Shin

Jessica Shin

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics